There is greatness in doing something you hate for the sake of someone you love. ~Shmuley Boteach

Kyle is quick with the cell phone, to record his big catch of the day at the Fishing Derby. 5/9/15

The other day I was given this article to read, entitled Dad found not guilty for taking tween’s phone away. That peeked my interest immediately. Teenager vs. Aunt Heather Part 3 – Flexing the Attitude and there have been many more issues with Kyle and that stupid cell phone. Between the arguments, blow ups, obsession, disrespect and just plain annoyance, Kyle’s iPhone has certainly been the topic of many conversations.

Honestly, I don’t remember if I ever discussed the major issues I’ve had with Kyle, but there have been many, and they’ve been huge. To sum it up, Kyle is obsessed with his phone. I get it, he’s like most teenagers, but he’s really displayed an unhealthy desire to stay unified to that piece of electronic device, as well as show disrespect thinking he’s superior.

It was so out of hand, I was ready to take the shot gun and blast his phone to pieces. Why didn’t I? The only reason I didn’t was because Kyle and I got into a scuffle of sorts, and he was seriously acting irrationally and exceptionally erratic. If I attempted to shot holes in his phone, I thought Kyle might do something stupid and desperate, like jumping in the line of fire to save his precious (I intentionally used that word, comparing Kyle to Gollum when he referred to the ring in Lord of the Rings). That’s exactly how Kyle was acting.

Anyway, to shorten a very long drawn out and dramatic story, I did take the phone off of Kyle, at least at that particular instance. I wouldn’t give it back until we had a family meeting. This resulted in a loss of phone privileges for a week, something that was long overdue. Personally, I didn’t care it was an inconvenience with his band, school and social activity. I didn’t even care the phone wasn’t mine, and I wasn’t paying for the cell phone services. Did I have a right? You bet I did, especially with Kyle’s behavior. It was the right thing to do, considering the disrespect I was enduring prior to that time and the day of the incidence. Teenager vs. Aunt Heather Part 2 – The Calm Before the Storm This problem expanded past me into the rest of the family.

Kyle always had a knack for recording his fishing adventures with his cell phone. Fishing Derby 5/9/15

Would you believe I was given every excuse in the book and chastised for taking his cell phone away? Yep. I still didn’t buckle, because I knew Kyle was finally learning a lesson. Again, it was the right thing to do.

Now back to the article. What really struck me was the attitude of the mom and the step-dad. Her only concern was the phone, not the well being of her very own child! She only cared about the money and the material aspect to the situation. Are you kidding me? Read it for yourself. She should have been working together with the father for the well-being of that child. Come on, an inappropriate text message should have been the focus, not her ego or self-centered thinking. Why? My guess, she was mad the dad stepped in to do her job as a parent.

And shame on the step-dad, again for not begin an adult wanting to do what was right for that girl. Nope. Instead he flexed his muscles, like he was big s%$t and pulled strings to throw the situation even further out of perspective. Having a man arrested in the middle of the night like he was a criminal? Seriously? If you’re a cop, you’re suppose to be protecting and serving. I don’t know the context of the text messages, but shouldn’t that have been the topic of conversation? Too much ego, way too much self-centered behavior, materialism and not enough parenting is the moral of this story.

The mom and step-dad are seriously stupid, by allowing a young adult to have such control over them and manipulate them like she did.

Kudos to that dad who didn’t back down and wasn’t bullied for being a true parent. Kudos to that dad who had an interest in his daughter and wanted to do the right thing. Kudos to that dad for standing up even in the face of criminal charges. I hope one day his daughter understands who’s the real parent and who really cares for her, even if they don’t have a relationship currently. Actually, I hope the mom and step-dad sees the error of their actions and takes a vested interest in the little girls well-being, although I’m sure they’re the reason for the broken relationship between the dad and daughter, when they should encourage the bong between the two.

I’m sure there’s more to the story than what’s been presented in the article. It sounds like the relationship between the mom and dad are less than amicable, but that shouldn’t be the fault of the daughter. No matter what the situation was, the mom and step-dad should have put on their big girl and boy pants and handled the situation like mature adults. What kind of example are they setting for that little girl? In fact, their daughter is probably picking up on their vibe and acting out, to only make further mistakes she may regret, all because of a lack of parenting.

I pray the dad comes back in the picture and the daughter matures a bit to face reality and her real family.

On a side note, I don’t believe cell phones are evil. In fact, they do serve good purposes. The problem is parenting, or a lack there of and giving boundaries and limitations.